Monday, February 29, 2016

Hello! Today I want to share with you my latest layout using some of the new cut files from The Cut Shoppe!

Scrapbooking my teenager can be a little tricky sometimes--he's definitely no longer in the cute little boy stage and I struggle a little when it comes to finding both products and designs that are more reflective of his present age. When the Boys Rule cut file was released, I was so happy to have some super cool designs to use for layouts about my son. The set is definitely versatile and I love that the motifs aren't too age specific.

Here is what I did:

One technique that I haven't really done too much with is backing my cut files with patterned paper and that was something I wanted to try with this layout. I used three circles, backed them with a bright yellow patterned paper, and placed them around the layout in a classic triangle configuration-one by the photo, one by the title, and one by the journaling. The fun cut files move the eye around to all the important elements on my page.

As I was finishing this layout, I thought of another way I could use these on page and I am already itching to get this idea down on paper! Love it when inspiration comes so quickly :). Now, if I can just get this guy to stop being so busy and let me take some more pictures!

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Hello! My daughter turned six this month and I thought it would be fun to end her "Five" album with a layout sharing a few of my favorite pictures that I took throughout the year and today I want to share that with you!

When I sat down to make this, I had the idea that I wanted to do something on the slant and it ended up being a good choice because it gave me lots of room for the five pictures I wanted to use. Originally, I had imagined that I would use two or more different pattern paper strips to make the slant, but it ended up making the page way too busy. To simplify the layout, I settled on just on piece of paper (which is from Shimelle's new line that I totally love!). Since I had so many striaght lines going on in the layout, I chose to make my title with some messy/curvy Thickers. The nice, solid black color allowed the title to really stand out on the busy background.

I am pretty excited that I did this layout. I have an evergrowing list of layout ideas and this type of "review" layout is on it. Sometimes I get pretty caught up in keeping up and this project let me stop for a bit and look back at the whole year as opposed to one single day or moment and I liked it. Definitely see myself incorporating more these types of layouts into my album!

One of my memory keeping goals for this year is to tell more stories--journal more often, give more details, and be more specific with my thoughts. Of course, when I chose this darker background I wasn't really thinking of writing space until I got further into the project and at this point there was no turning back. That is when I pulled a pretty journaling card from the Life Pages Kit, cut it down in size, and found a place for it on my layout. Voila! Instant writing space!

Now as much as I hope I have inspired you to drop everything and get those February Kits out, I want to encourage you to continue working your way through the hop because there is an amazing amount of talent in today's line up and I wouldn't want you to miss a thing! Here are the links:

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Happy Valentine's Day! In honor of this fun and sweet day, I decided to create a layout focusing on our family's littlest members--Mr. Cuddles and Squeakers! Our two little guys certainly have a place in their hearts for their humans, but the love they have for each other is beyond compare. To help tell this story I used one of The Cut Shoppe's most recent releases-Love Struck.

For my 6x8 layout, I chose to use the "Love is All You Need" title:

These two guys are seriously the cutest! Whenever they are apart they make all sorts of noises and search everywhere for each other.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

The Cut Shoppe is starting off this Valentine's Day Weekend with a fun blog hop full of heartfelt inspiration from the Design Team! In celebration of this lovely holiday, The Cut Shoppe is holding 2 giveaways, giving away a free cut file on The Cut Shoppe Blog, and we also have a discount code for you! That's a whole lot of love going on!

For my project, I chose the love themed Feel the Love cut file and put it to work on an layout documenting my daughter, the artist!

Often times I find myself looking for a bigger element to stand out as the "main" embellishment and thought the heart would work just perfectly.

I really liked how the heart brings the attention straight to my smiling daughter and her work of art.

Now earlier, I mentioned 2 giveaways and here are the details:

GIVEAWAY #1: Each Designer participating in the Hop, is giving away one Cut File. Make sure you visit each Blog and leave a comment for the chance to win. Winners will be announced on the Designer's Blog on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16th, so make sure you check back on their Blogs to see if you're a Winner!

GIVEAWAY #2: You can win 14 of your favorite cut files, just by commenting throughout the Hop. Leave a comment on each Blog, starting with The Cut Shoppe Blog, for the chance to win. One Winner will be chosen from all of the Blog comments, and announced on The Cut Shoppe Blog on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16th. The Winner will be able to choose 14 cut file sets from The Cut Shoppe Etsy store!

**For my stop on the Hop, I am giving away the Feel the Love cut file, so make sure and leave me a comment telling me who your valentine is!

Here is a list of the designers (with links!) participating in today's fun:

Today is the 10th and that means it is Reveal Day at Elle's Studio! On the 10th a new kit, coordinating extras, and a new Design Team Gallery full of brand new inspiration goes live. Yay!

The exclusive monthly kits and extras (stamps, wood veneers, acyrlics, ect.) from Elle's Studio are limited and once they sell out they will not be restocked. You can look for a new kit each month on the 10th at 8:00 am, and as a special bonus to celebrate launch day, kits will be on sale for $9.99 for today only-regular price after that will be $11.99. Shipping for USA residents will start around $2 while shipping for overseas runs about $6 depending on your location.

Now that we have the details, here is what Elle's Studio has to offer for February:

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Hi all! This past Sunday on the Citrus Twist Kits Blog it was my turn to take on the Sunday Sketch Challenge and because I was feeling adventurous on the day that I made my layout, I got out my camera and filmed my process. Today I want to share that video here:

I sort of have a love/hate relationship with video making at this point. I am still relatively new to the process of video making and there is a huge learning curve, at least for me anyway. Just when I think I have a good handle on it, something new comes my way. My goal is certainly to present a finished product that is top-notch, but I am not quite there yet ;). All I can do is keep making them and work on my skills as I go. So if you don't mind my novice skills, I hope you take the time to have a look at it :).

Monday, February 8, 2016

I have been a huge Shimelle fan for a long time and felt her absence as she took a little time away from regular blogging and video making. I've watched my share of videos, but no one gets me quite as excited to scrapbook as she does and I have really felt a revival of my own scrappy spirit since watching her latest videos.

She recently posted here that she is going to get back to issueing challenges and I felt compelled this past weekend to participate in her first one-a "Scrapbook a Selfie" Challenge:

Instead of scrapping just a photo of myself, I scrapped a goofie selfie my husband and I took while waiting for our son's football game to start. During this past football season we spent a lot time in the car together traveling out of town and I really, really enjoyed it. Car rides generally mean quiet time since the girls fall asleep and it's always great to have that time to just chat without any interuptions.

So how about you--what is inspiring you lately??? Along with reading Shimelle's blog regularly, I am also feeling super excited to get to work with a a beautiful pile of new CHA releases that arrived this past week--nothing gets the scrappy mojo going quite like a box of new goodies!

Thursday, February 4, 2016

I had lots of fun watching all the new releases roll out during CHA on Instagram a few weeks ago and boy was I super excited to see some of the things I was drooling over in my box of February Kits from Citrus Twist! Seeing papers and embellishments from the most recent releases from Crate Paper and Pink Paislee sure made my day :).

This month I worked with both the February Main "Stories" Kit and a part of the Embellishment Kit (due to shipping time frames the design team was unable to have the entire kit) and I am so happy (and so nervous because I am totall newbie) to say that I have an unboxing video to share! Yay!

I created layouts in record time this month and this is due entirely to the fact that I was so excited to work with the stuff--nothing gets my scrappy mojo going like a fresh box of brand new goodies!

This is a fave layout simply because I love the story so much! The blues in the kit were such a great compliment to the photo and I had fun adding in a little bit of pink using the cut apart sheet from Maggie Holme's new Bloom line.

For US, I returned to one of my go-to designs and I even pulled out one of my most loved punches to add a little touch of whimsy. (I love saying "whismy!) One of my favorite things to do is bring back an older design or technique and give it a fresh twist with new products.

Again in this third layout, I really went to town with the blues in the kit. I don't know, but blue is just such a fresh color for me right now. I complimented it with the yellow in the kit and more black and white elements.

For my final project this month, I used a 3x4 card from the cut apart sheet I mentioned earlier and paired it with this picture of my daughter after she successfully made it across the monkey bars. For a change, I mix and matched some word elements for my title.

Well, there you have it my Citrus Twist projects for February! To see more projects made from this month's kits make sure and head on over to the Citrus Twist Gallery or the blog where we share daily shots of inspiration. You can also find the design team's work on Instagram--just search for #citrustwistkits.

Monday, February 1, 2016

Hello everyone! The first of February came way too fast and the only upside to this is that it means I can reveal the new layouts featuring the latest kits from Gossamer Blue!

This month, the February Kits are full of beautiful papers and embellishments from Basic Grey, Fancy Pants, and Heidi Swapp that had me scrapping a variety of stories, including our most recent snow and a desert hike.

This project feautures the Main Scrapbook Kit as well as Add-On Kit #2. The woodgrain hearts is so pretty in person--I really like the darker finish.

For my second project, I dived into the 6x6 Dear Heart Paper Pad from Basic Grey (from the Bits and Pieces Add-On) and built my layers with it.

Make sure and stop by the Gossamer Blue Gallery--I am lucky and get to peek at the projects early and I am always impressed by what the girls create!

Looking forward to sharing the rest of my projects with you real soon!